[ ARC forum 2 ]
Written by Ivan at 22 Apr 2003 22:35:13: Re: Lichen Sclerosis - well, maybe not
As an answer to: Re: Lichen Sclerosis written by Ivan at 22 Apr 2003 22:02:44:
I did further checking, and found several sites that indicated research indicating LSA may not be an infection. And of course, if not an infection, then not caused by a microbe. Infection remains a possibility, but such causes as autoimmune disorder are also prominently mentioned. Of course, several infections are so enigmatic that they are mistaken for other causes for along time, as in scrapie and Mad Englishmen disease (a/k/a CJD). The steroidal treatments which are applied appear to be treating the symptoms, for lack of capacity to attack the root cause.
So while it may not be an infection, you should not have gone away from your doctor's office without knowing more about the condition than you did, which still suggests to me that you need to find a physician with more experience with it.
>"Tis better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, then to speak out and remove all doubt" - Lichens are symbiotic forms of life, generally composed of a fungus cell and an alga. While they often grow to visible size, as when you see them on rocks and trees, the basic unit of lichen life is one of each type of cell living in symbiosis. Either apart or together, the cellular units are submicroscopic, and therefore by definition, they are microbes. Just as many fungi, such as yeast, can grow to produce visible strustures or collections, and yet are still considered microbes when discussing infectious agents, so are lichens.
>I would suggest that you check your facts before heaping ridicule. responding as you do, you're not helping anyone.
>>Ivan, get lost, you're not helping anyone, u ignorant American fool. LS is not caused by a microbe.
>>>Get to a better dermatologist. You cannot treat any infection with a steroid. They do not attack the microbe or enable the body to do so. A steroid may help once the infection is gone, but right now you need to kill the LSA and steroids can't do it. If your dermatologists have only given you steroids for this, they are not qualified to practice.